[Masa]

Chapter 1
An Introduction

It was one of those typical sunny, cold days of dead-autumn. All the leaves have long fell to the frigid, frost-blanketed ground, stricken from their yearly disease, leaving the once-beautiful trees naked and sick-looking. But there is still some - correct me if I'm wrong - beauty to it. A natural death on the course of life, with reincarnation not too far away... but these sort of sentimental grasps on life is just a form of denial, therefore I am either denying my mortality, or the world's. My my, how cheap my mind has become!

The chair lifted its front legs off the wooden floor and raised about four centimeters off the ground, hovering delicately and just bobbing, I continued to slowly raise the legs until I felt the back of my head hit the back wall, in which I released all balance and just lay leaning on the wall. I smiled soothingly, which probably meant someone else was frowning, or that something bad was going to happen to me very soon.

With a small creak, the club door opened and a petite figure waltzed in, followed by a slightly larger person with a brisker step. "Hey, Mark, you're here early."

In my relaxation I forgot I had a club to run, and yes, Mark would be me.

The glass in the windowpane rattled once as I got my foot off it, then I had a sudden revelation, "Say, how about we go to the park later this week? It looks horrible out, but I bet the stream would look nice this time of year, clear and full of tiny little fish."

"Sounds nice Mark, but I don't like you that way." said the young boy as he took another seat nearby, his olive-green eyes always had a tendency to look like he was being serious about everything; which is annoying, seeing that it looks that way even when he was joking.

He's a nice guy, Ichigo Sarahisa, but he's such a hard guy to read. Lucky for me, he came aboard since he liked the two girls I already had in the club. And what a silly name, "Ichigo", I bet you it's not even his real name. At least he’s a good writer.

"Which park? The one with the little stream and the cherry trees? Aww! I love that place, it's so cute!"

And the person on the other side of my like-dislike bar voiced her opinion and I couldn't help but smile. This was my other type of smile, the one reserved for happy moments; the other is for lazy moments or to laugh in the face of another's danger. I'm glad you were the first person I dragged into this club, Ami Kimiko

So I have my Euro-loser and my beautiful girl Ami, now if I had a crazy schizo boy, an otaku, and one of those cute, depressing Goth Lolita girl, then I'd have a very unique set! Oh! I also need a blonde American girl! Yes, that would complete my set. But then again... I already have part of that list...

She entered so silently I didn't actually notice her. In fact, the only reason I realized she was there was that the loud clicking of the laptop made me look at her. Bandana-clad and dark-haired, my evil beauty has returned.

Gothic girls have a lot of bad reputation, but over in this school, I don't think I've ever met a girl who puts all that black inky stuff on her face and looks like she was picked up at the nearby cemetery. If I did meet a girl like that I may have fainted on the spot before calling the nearest shrine to exorcise her. Instead, my dear Yumi was simply a girl who listened to too much American Metal and wore a lot of clothes, even in the hot summertime.

So she sat, wearing a navy bandana and a black sleeveless vest with an even darker black t-shirt underneath that revealed her slim, pale stomach. Chains heavily weighed down her gray cargos, and even her ribbon on the side of her head - since it didn't do a thing to her long black hair, I assume it's just decoration - was that same metallic color. I wonder why she would change just for us three. Now that I think about it… does she even wear her uniform during school?

To tell you the truth, while Ami and Ichigo were my main associates, Yumi was my favorite, since she was the only person who requested to come, rather than me begging them. So now you have my army. My personal writing squadron of the three shabbiest writers that will enable to the continued existence of the Literature Club!

Four members is the bare minimum number of members you must have in your club to be able to operate under the thumb of the Student Government. If we have six or more, we become seats for the Student Government, as well as having to appoint our own chair. That would be bad. My elder cousin long told me the truths and untruths of the Council.

"If you have four or five members, then you’re technically just a club connected to the council, you're free to do what you want and only have to work once every month! But go overboard and get too many members, then you'll have to be present at all Student Government meetings and you'll be zombified by the Council. Then you'll have to work every week to meet your new agendas! So get the three most talented people you can get, and let one person join on their own, after that ignore everyone else! It's just that simple"

I can still see his face, brimming with confidence and a little madness. He could also change his heart rate at such extremes he manages to get out of exams week by being in the hospital. He was the master of getting out of a job, ever since he was a little kid. But usually his advice was sound. My cousin isn't insane... I hope.

An explanation is in order, I would presume. My older cousin and his two writer friends recreated a long-extinct club of the school, the Literature Club. Somehow - don't ask me how - he managed to go through his entire high school career with the club never going under by the sharks taking up seat in the Council. Oddly enough, everyone thought I'd be just like my cousin, high-strung, wild, ignorant, and fun.

All people and opinions taken account - I'm a pretty boring guy. My goal at the beginning of the year was to live happily and get through the year with passing grades. If I was feeling really crazy that day, I'd even add a girlfriend to that list of dreams and goals. But even when that guy is on the other side of the planet, he still somehow manages to affect my life to an amount that one may be uncomfortable. He left behind his club and made me swear on our family's name that I would see to it to the end. At first I promised only to humor him, but after putting a little work into it… I’ve grown fond of the little club.

"At least until Marche is ready to join you in the high school, and then I don't care what you do."

What a wonderful cousin.

But why should I complain? I'm a single - hopefully decent-looking - guy, who looks over a little club and with it, two gorgeous females and a rather simple boy. Not too much to worry about, I think. I stay here until about seven at night and head home, but if any of the others stay longer, I'll stay with them, even if it is that Ichigo fellow.

"Hey, Mark, everyone's gone."

I jolted in my seat, being half-asleep, and unsurprisingly smashed my head on the table.

"You're so stupid, sometimes. Hurry up, or you'll be at home at midnight." and with her dark smile, she shut the door, her laptop under her arm.

So I guess I'll walk home tonight.


Mornings were just as simple as the evenings; I just grabbed a canned coffee from a vending machine on the road and began my morning exercise that some so commonly call the on-route to the school foundations. I don't need Dance Dance or any silly training regiment to keep healthy and slim, all you need - or lack thereof - is a train. The closes train station to my school is also the closest station to my home, thus there would be no point of me using it to go to school.

School uniforms are also a hassle for poor guys like me. Just a bland brown overcoat with green collars and cuffs. They were probably one of the biggest reasons I'm so depressed sometimes, I wish they had a bit more color. Or make the girls' skirts shorter. Or make them wear skirts during the cold. Right now they wore the identical uniform as the guys, pants and all. But unlike their male counterparts, their top uniform had three parts: an undershirt (for a hot room), a green, sleeveless vest, and an overcoat of that light brown color. Guys wore a white dress shirt underneath, a long-sleeved, thin, green shirt, and a brown closely-knit vest. The long, tan dress pants were all the same.

I wonder how long this trek is, I never really thought about the distance... the shrine had to be at least four miles from the school, and it takes about thirty minutes to get to the shrine from the home district, so...

"Ah! Mark!"

I don't care anymore. When a beautiful girl calls your name out, you must drop everything and turn to look at them.

Ah, what a magnificent creature. Ami was a very well-made girl. She had curves where curves should be and possessed the innocence and purity of a little girl. Long dark-brown hair bounced very slightly as she ran in my direction, she was coming from a more expensive side of the district. Looking at her, you might be able to guess she came from a family with well-established ties: she always looked healthy and full of spirit, she did well for grades, and if you got to see her in her casual clothing (Twice for me, which is the current record for the boys in East High school.) you'd realize she could easily become a model.

"You came earlier today, usually I see you behind me..." her soft voice sounded like the harmony of a thousand angels... why haven't I asked her out yet?

Before I could talk to her about the importance of rewording, she already said this and looked at me in a very peculiar manner, "Um, I'm sorry, are you going to some school outing? For the Council?"

I just realized she was wearing a red t-shirt and a skirt of the similar color. She held three denim bags in her hands as well as her purse, she even wore lipstick. How prettied up she looks for school. I guess there's usually no school on Sunday...

She began to laugh, an uncontrolled happy life, "You thought there was school today!? Oh, you're always thinking too much, are you okay?" suddenly looking worried, she shifted all her baggage to one arm and tried to touch my forehead.

My sense of balance has been damaged from years of sleeping. I cringed from her warm hand and stumbled backwards. Falling forward on the cute girl only happens in daydreams and cheaply made anime. Landing directly on her breasts is confined only in the world of fiction.

I suddenly wished I landed forward on top of her then landing perfectly on my tailbone on the hard cement ground.

"Are you okay?"

When I opened my eyes she was leaning forward, looking at me like I was a little boy, holding out her hand to help me up. What a saint!

Accepting her hand, I couldn't help but smile weakly at my own idiocy, "I guess I wasn't thinking..."

She almost made what I can only describe as a growl, "You work too hard!"

If I was the sort of person to laugh out loud, I would have. I wonder what she thinks when she looks at me; does she really see a hard working guy? I wonder what put that through her mind...

"What do you do in your free time?"

We were walking... somewhere. After deciding to just keep my clothes as they were, I just began to walk alongside her, not sure why, just a habit or something. I liked what she was wearing; it was very... high school girl-ish. But back to her question...

"Sleeping mostly..."

"What really!?"

"Yeah... I have a crazy metabolism, so I don't even need to exercise much... when I'm not at school... I sleep."

Her face looked like a mix of anxiety and worry, stop worrying about me would you? You're not family nor are you my girlfriend, nothing to worry about then!

"I know... but sometimes I worry about you. You always look so sad."

You really are an angel, little girl, but you don't need to worry about me. I'm too tired to die. When people die, they go out with the last of their energy. It takes too much strength to die.

"Hey, I have an idea!" She smiled cutely and punched her left palm, "Why don't you come to the shopping district with me! I'll buy you some clothes and we can go get some lunch together, and we can talk about things...!"

This sounds too much like a date for me to say yes quickly... so I did a quick look-over of the beautiful first-year girl in front of me. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any attraction between us. But she's really not my type. I want a girl who is quiet and loves with her heart, not with her body. A girl with real Japanese beauty and is a calm, cool, love. Ah well. I've never been confessed to, and if I say no here, I'll never be.

"Sure."


Luckily I made it a habit to keep my wallet on me at all times. One reason is that you never know when you'll need something while you’re out. The other reason is that I don't necessarily trust my roommate. That's a different story for another time, and that succubus prefers big introductions anyway.

This was also an interesting experience for me. I've only ridden the trains four or five times, but it was almost like riding a bike, your body automatically gets used to the rhythm and you almost move with it again. That and I've never ridden it with a nice girl beside me either. She was listening to her little MP3 player in one ear, so that if I began to talk, she could still hear me. That's good, she's polite.

I sighed while I sunk deeper into my red leather bench as the train rocked slightly, it was a thirty-minute ride to the district, but if she just wanted to go shopping, we could have just gone to the mall...

Buildings flew past us now, tall buildings with giant television screen showing off the hottest new pop idol or new television show. Big posters of casino and pachinko lined up the streets. I've always hated big cities; they just sicken me for some reason. But the district in located in a much cleaner part of town. It's just a giant mall really.

Once you get off the train, you're practically in the middle of the district. You had everything and anything here. Gangsters in the furthest southern side, pleasant meadows in the northern portion. But the gangsters were like some of the gangsters back at home and the like, if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

Speaking of gangsters, I probably have to get that paper back to Daisuke before their next play, I hope he’ll remain patient for the next few days, I really don’t feel like writing anything right now, bloody writer’s block.

With a small squeal… squeal – what an odd word – I’ll call it a gasp now. With a bit of a gasp she grabbed my upper arm and dragged me to the nearest convenience store.

No packed luncheon today? A shame, I’d have been happy to taste her cooking, not that I even know if it all that good or not.

I, being the silent and wary creature I am, overlooked her selection of many foods and deserts she threw into one of those eco-friendly bags people carry around. She bought ten hundred yen’s worth of foods and such. No shock to me that I was able to estimate the costs and miss by a very narrow margin, when you live alone, every yen counts. My wallet sighed with envy as she passed the money across the table without the slightest bit of hesitation.

At once, immediately as we left, she began to talk. No conversation was taken between the times after leaving the convenience store to the period where we began to eat, none at all, for the girl simply talked. What she talked about, I sometimes inquire, but the listening portion of my mind – burned out and angered by my gullibility – informed me that the true question was not, “What did the young girl speak of?” but rather, “What did she not talk about?”

I never mean to ignore or zone out on anybody, I am a mean spirit, mayhap, but not an impolite one. Her voice is pleasant, but it just made a man so near his dreams that he truly does begin to sleep. A murmuring, kind, cute voice that simply lulls the senses to a state of the border of sleep; oh I was a Level 2 Squire trying to best a level 99 White Mage. Foolish game references aside, I did manage to walk beside her and use my trademark nod to at least appear rather awake on the one-handed conversation.

“This looks like a nice spot!”

It was the only time of the day that I was happier to be here rather than to be in the mall.

Since I was asleep, I could not precisely map our trek up what I believed to be a large mountainside. The convenience store was located only a few minutes walk from the train station, and I could still see it, a dot on the ground from our new spot here. We must have begun a long walk on the sidewalk, there is a bit of forest we must have passed as well, and so all awhile we went up… looking down I am amazed we made it up with no difficulty of breath or of no weariness in our bodies.

Good fortune, I loved this view. It was a simple position on the roadside, a slight jutting of the sidewalk that extends outward and overlooks, not only the shopping district, but a wondrous view of the city itself.

“It’s very peaceful out here! Even kinda romantic!”

There was no common reply to her comment, so I allowed it to go and began to help her set up the small table. I don’t think romantic was the very good word for the scenario… awkward mayhap, but not very romantic.

The rather expensive lunch looked… like it was made up by two hungry first-years. But to make it look nice – and since my eyes were hurting from the sun – I even put up the umbrella that was folded up next to the unused table.

Because I like to save sweets for last, I pushed the cakes away from me and began munching on the soft bread. She bought too much, I realized at last. I tend to skip breakfast and dinner, eating lunch only because it’s during the school. By the time we stopped reaching out and plucking the foods from the plastic containers, the deserts were sitting away in their lonely corner of their round table, idly waiting for a time where they may be eaten, yet knowing all the same that they probably would never be eaten in the time before they expired. Poor lil fellas.

Eventually the feeling of painful awkwardness seemed to come upon our persons. A purple gloom that settled around our heads as we quietly eyed the desert trays and the cupcakes lathered in creamy honey and chocolates and their kin. My stomach began to persuade me to at least eat one, but my brain and clogged heart immediately vetoed the bill, and began preparations to impeach the corrupted organ. The girl opposite from me gave a coy smile, “I guess I bought a little too much.”

No… three containers with their bright “700 yen” stickers winking at me maybe were not too much. Now that I look at it, I don’t think we’ve even opened the packages. Shame, I wonder if we can get our money back if we return them to the convenience store.

Our return walk back to the train station was somewhat uneventful, if not painful. Walking downhill at a hasty pace – we lost track of the time and realized we could get stuck up here alone – while our stomachs were on the point of bursting really makes you feel like never eating ever again.

Our train left and we were surprisingly on time, we even managed to find seats before the larger crowds of people appeared and packed the train. It was a cool night, but it can get really hot when people get on.

I was still wearing my uniform, mind you, so when it began to get humid I felt it tenfold. Then to make matters worse, Ami fell asleep on my shoulder.

And then a sweaty businessman fell asleep on my other shoulder.

It was a day of mixed-feelings indeed. So my life proceeds.